The Rockets took another step in the right direction on their quest for favorable playoff seeding, improving to 51-24 on the season, and Harden took another step in the right direction of his MVP campaign.

Harden was as impressive as he has been all season. He was 16-of-25 from the field, 8-of-9 on 3-pointers, and 11-of-13 on free throws. He had six assists and eight rebounds.

Harden, who was six points shy of Calvin Murphy's franchise scoring record, is the first Rockets player to have two 50-point games in one season. Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon had two such performances in their Rockets careers.

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Rockets update

Wednesday: Rockets 115, Kings 111.

Record: 51-24.

Today: At Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

TV/radio: Root; 790 AM and 850 AM (Spanish).

50-point club

James Harden became the first Rocket with multiple games of 50 or more points in the same season:

Pts. Player Year Opponent

57 Calvin Murphy 1978 Nets

54 Elvin Hayes 1968 Pistons

53 Moses Malone 1982 Clippers

52 Hakeem Olajuwon 1990 Nuggets

51 Hakeem Olajuwon 1996 Celtics

51 Moses Malone 1981 Warriors

51 James Harden 2015 Kings

50 Elvin Hayes 1970 SuperSonics

50 James Harden 2015 Nuggets

On the other end, Cousins finished with his second career triple-double, totaling 24 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists.

"I had to match his energy," Harden said. "If he takes over the game and is doing everything, I have to bring that same intensity to even it out. He is a great player. He had a great game tonight."

The Rockets welcomed back forward Terrence Jones, who missed two weeks after suffering a partially collapsed lung against Denver on March 19.

Jones wasn't on a minutes restriction. Before the game, coach Kevin McHale said he would play based on how he felt.

Jones, who started at power forward, looked like himself from the start. He was active on defense, blocking a career-high seven shots, and also contributed 16 points and seven rebounds.

"I felt good," Jones said. "I just wanted to be a rim protector. I saw how small we were in the Toronto game (on Monday), and I felt like we needed another big body down there."

While Jones' presence was helpful, the Rockets still struggled in the paint. They were outrebounded 57-42 by Sacramento, which wound up with 72 points in the paint.

"That's way too much," McHale said. "They basically pushed us out of the way and went and got it. That was pretty much it."

The Rockets werewithout center Dwight Howard, who won't play both games of back-to-backs for the rest of the season. He rested Wednesday but will play Thursday when the Rockets travel to Dallas. They were also without forward Donatas Motiejunas, who will be out for another week with lower back pain.

"It's going to be helpful to have D-Mo back and to have Dwight be able to play every game," McHale said. "That's how we will be able to get our rhythm."

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